I need a fix ph decreaser amount

[easylife]

Hi people

Our pens are broken and no access to good quality pens. We are facing difficulties with setting ph levels. But I found a solution.

My plan is use market water instead of city water. Example: Im holding a 7.5 ph water right now. We have a small syringe for adding nutrients and such.

We have to set it between 6 - 7 right ? General city water and market waters higher than 7. Lets base 7.5 and if 1 cl ph decreaser will decrease 1.0 ph in water; that will be our simple hack. And 6.5 ph will be setted for all.

[Ckbrew]

I believe that you do not understand pH and how it works. It is a logarithmic scale. The difference between 6 and 7 is not one, it is 10. 6 and 8 is 100. pH should be set AFTER the nutes are added to the water. Your target depends on grow method. For hydro target 5.6 to 6.0. Soil is different but I don't do soil. As far as the pens go, cheap ones are a waste of money. Expensive ones need care and calibration. If that is not done properly, waste of money. Some will disagree with this but I stand firm. For the purpose of a grow, pH papers do an excellent job, are cheap, require no calibration or care. This is what I use: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QLBVP74...d_asin_title_6

[easylife]

Yeah we tried papers they didnt result clear and solid. Everybody says it has to be between 5 and 6. I understand what ur saying. But even expensive pen broken. Its not responding to calibrating.

Isnt it smar and useful what i refer ? We will buy standart ph water from market. And we will add ph decreaser until we set it right ? But cant we do it without receipe/reading from pen ?

1 cl ph decreaser for 7.5 to set it to 6 ? Or how much ever needed ? You saying it differs every time ?

[Smallgrow]

The various nutrients you add to your water will change the PH , it’s great to start with water with a known PH but that is not what it will be after you add the nutes , so you won’t know your actual starting PH once you do that.
Additionally even if you knew your PH after nutes, to calculate the amount of PH up or down to bring you into the soil range of 6to 7 sounds like some pretty complicated math given what Ckbrew stated about the PH scale being logarithmic. I’m crap at math so I don’t even know it that’s possible.

If PH test strips aren’t working for you and no other way to test, My suggestion would be to switch to a supersoil grow method where all nutes are already in the soil then watering with store bought water at 7 PH should work just fine

https://www.growweedeasy.com/just-add-water-super-soil-grow-guide-easy-organic-weed

[Ckbrew]

To keep this in context, I am stating what happens in a hydro grow. The same theory applies if you are adding plain water to a soil grow but I will concede the details to the soil growers. The pre-correction pH has the potential to be different after every mix. It will depend on the starting pH of the water, mineral content of the water, and how the nutes affect and change pH after being added. To determine how much pH down (or up) is needed, you need to do what is called a titration. Mix the water and nutes, recording the total volume of solution and measure pH. If it is to high, add a small amount of pH down. Use an accurate syringe and add only a small amount. Stir well and measure again. Record EVERYTHING. If the pH is still to high, add another small amount, stir well and measure again. Repeat this process until the pH is correct for what you desire. Then go back to your notes and add up the multiple volumes of all the pH down added. This will give you a volume of pH correction per volume of mixed nutes. Once you have done this titration, use this information to mix the next batch. If your water is stable (the same source) , and the same nutes are added, the pH correction will be the same. If the nutes change you will have an approximate volume of pH correction. Proceed with the correction using a slightly smaller volume, then measure pH. Make an additional addition if needed. If the total volume of nutes changes, adjust the pH correction volume accordingly. Once you have established a baseline, it all gets easy. The initial titration(s) are time consuming but will save time when mixing additional batches.

[Allotrope1000]

Thanks to Ckbrew for the most excellent posts on the chemistry of pH. For those who have not yet figured it out, successful growing is based on plant science. You adhere to the basics, you get good results. The GWE site is chock full of science in layman terms. This applies to the entire grow cycle from sprouting seeds, vegging, flowering, harvesting, drying and curing. Don't forget the selection of grow medium and watering cycle. Once dialed in, it almost runs itself.
A word about "inexpensive" pH pens. I have used them exclusively (like the $10 or $15, yellow Vivosun ones) with fine results. You only need to calibrate them to the +/- 0.1pH range because the initial pH of nutrient solutions will change as it sits. I occasionally double check freshly mixed nutes with pH test strips (not litmus paper!) to make sure the pen is working. If not, I recalibrate or buy a new pen (once in four years). Both pens and test strips are EASILY available on Amazon.
My tap water is hard and runs pH 8.0 or higher. I use HNO3 (adds NO3- anion) to adjust down or NaOH to adjust up. But have a bottle of GH pH Up if I run out of acid. This for growing in coco/perlite.
My outdoor vegetable garden grow is different. Over the years it has been amended to pH 7.0. The soil buffers the pH. I don't bother to check it. Got two pounds from two eight foot tall photos last year.
Follow the GWE suggestions and get more bud than you can use.
Pretty simple.

[easylife]

Thank you all. Sadly English is not my first language. I am using soil from a local nursery. Amazon purchases are problem in here :/ I have friend who can buy and bring a good pen with him when he comes country home. I am not using any nutrients for now(once in week) I am using Biobizz super soil.

[Allenpro]

Ask your friend to bring some PH up and PH down solution also just in case

[easylife]

yeah that one too. we have some tho. but he is coming in 2 months. so for now we just adding water to biobizz and not using synthetics now.

My kind request is can somebody calculate the cc/cl to decrease 1 ph in plain water ?

[Allotrope1000]

Hi, easylife.

Congratulations on your English. It is getting good.
Forget the cc/cl mathematics. It is not necessary. Here is the easiest way to measure lower pH.
Buy some pH test strips at a swimming pool or water supply company. They come in a matchbook like package, slightly larger in size, with 40 to 50 strips. Inexpensive here, $5 to $6 US.
If test strips are not available, the swimming pool supply company should have a liquid pH test kit that also works by showing different colors for different pH levels. For test strips:
1. Mix your nutrient solution
2. Dip a test strip into the solution
3. Compare the color of the wet test strip to the reference chart on the test strip package. This visually tells you the approximate pH
4. Add a small amount of your pH reducing liquid, stir into the nutrient solution and retest the pH.
5. Repeat until the color of the test strip matches the desired pH
On the reference chart.

The liquid pH test kit works in similar way, using 4 or 5 ml of nutrient water, adding drops of an indicator solution to show the pH color on a chart.

Try the pool supply company first.

The above will result in a pH that will keep your plants happy.

[easylife]

Thank you Yes we have strip we tried that. The color range of levels pretty similar. Its hard to use. My friend doing the growing, he has a garden. He said "all colors in the chart is same" 😀
I purchased a few to better color vision, range and make it more obvious but its hard to tell the color it matches.

Pool company method looks like really cool. We will definetly try that.

When I can, i will post the pictures of plants. Can you tell they are healthy on ph ?

Thank you

Edit: pics

[Allotrope1000]

Hi, easylife.
It is somewhat difficult to diagnose pH issues from your pictures. Sorry, not much help.

Here is a quick fix. Distilled water has a pH of 7.0. It is perfect for soil, but a little high (should be about 6.0) for coco/ perlite. I use it all the time on seedlings before final planting.

If possible, try to buy new test strips. Mine are several years old and work fine with strong color differences throughout the pH range. I am suspect that you might have bad pH strips. Regards.